Shades
Shades (sh-ā-ds) are an undead shadow creature of the mythic realm, Shades are known to be one of the most dangerous creatures in the mythic, due to the venom they have coating their weapons, that is known to even block vampiric healing factors. As well as growing to gigantic proportions, and taking on any physical shape and element. History Information being gathered. Appearance Shades are a black mass, their body being capable of looking like any kind of being, or item, given monsters, with white bone like plates on their body that can look like, claw, horns, padding, and so forth. The white bone like platting also, always manifests on the head or face in the form of a "mask". On every shade mask, there is a marking, known as a "Shade mark" which is a target with a single ring and dot, and a line going through the middle of the outer ring, that becomes pointed and thin at the ends. Markings on a shade are always their elemental color, and can appear on the bone like white plates, or black of their body, and the markings can take any form, however the shade mark on the mask is always present despite the appearance it takes on. The eyes of the shade also take on their elemental color, with the add of a bright light, almost white, blue iris in the center, their eyes look like little glowing balls of light. Colors The colors of a shade, is it's magic elemental tell, no one is sure why they have this tell, as it makes it easier to defeat them, by using the element that it is weak to. Behavior Shades have very little behaviors outside of being told what to do by their master, they are generally considered mindless. In the wild though, they are always aggressive, and attacking and eating anything that moves in their territory, despite having no need or reason to eat once adults, and when near Mana crystals they will consume the magic energy the crystals give off. Shades have no maternal instincts, outside of moving eggs around for a brood mother, but outside of that, they consider what young that come from the brood mother "Adult" shades, and eggs just part of the environment. Young shades, are generally the same as adult shades, just smaller, easier to kill, and have a obsessive need to eat anything they can get their mouths on. When daylight comes, shades hid in their environment as "Shade marks" till night comes, the shade mark is the same emblem apparent on all shade masks, when on a object, it looks as if the mark has been "painted" onto the object, with low opacity. Abilities & Weaknesses Shades are mainly considered dangerous in the mythic realm due to a few of their abilities, the main one they are most known for though, is in the poison or venom they create that manifests in their saliva, sweat, or venom found on their claws, weapons, and fangs, it's a known "Heal Blocking" agent, capable of disabling even a vampires natural quick healing powers. Depending on their element, and body type, they can have dangerous magic attacks that can range from damage to status conditions like sleep, paralysis, energy/life draining, or poisoning, or physical attacks that can cause sever bleeding. Shades can also effectively take control or "posses" objects or creatures, turning them into the shades new body. Shades can also effectively hunt down pray through smell and sound alone, their eye sight tends to very, but it seems they can only see in infrared only. Their senses tend to very depending on the type of Shade, some having better senses then others. They don't need to eat or sleep, but come daylight, they hide in the environment as shade marks on objects. The reason shades must hide come daylight, as they are highly vulnerable to sunlight, instantly burning like a tissue in fire, as soon as the sun starts rising. They are however, not vulnerable to light created from light bulbs, (excluding those meant to mimic sunlight) or magic. They are also heavily week to fire, and light magic, instantly burning like they do with sunlight... And depending on their element, they have it's elemental weaknesses, but do not instantly die from this. Life-cycle Shades are normally "born" as adults, and start life in a number of way; one way is being spawned from impure mana energies, and or form from dark or negative energies collecting in shadows. Another way is by being summoned or created by skilled Shadow / Dark element users. And lastly, the much more uncommon way, is that they can hatch, from eggs called "Shade Eggs" which can be made through the same means as normal shades, Via spawning from energy's, though, these are more likely to appear when a Dark / Shadow Elemental user creates their own shades, or from a couple of rare shade types known as a brood mothers. The rare type of shades, known as a "Brood Mothers" that exist, only have the soul purpose to lay Shade eggs, with worker-minion shades tending to the eggs, much like ants, or termites. The brood mothers are "Boss type" shades, they are known for creating both Boss and minion type shades in mass. Normally, a shade is fully grown after it's been spawned or summoned, but when it's hatched, it must continuously consume living beings in order to grow to "adult" age, the time it takes to grow normally depends on the resources in the area, and can take days, to years. From there, a shades life is very much static in it's adult life, consume, attack, and or, appease it's master, that is obeys. Shades do not die from sickness or old age, as they are ageless beings, they must be killed in order for their lives to end, thus there are shades as old as the Mythic realm that exist. When a shade dies, it instantly turns to dust, or fades away, making it very hard to study them, however energy they do leave behind can collect with other energies, and create a new shade, or shade eggs. Uses Shadow / Dark users typically use shades as minions to help attack their target, or as pets, but they are a very dangerous pet to have, and are generally advised not to keep around after battle. Types * Skeeters / Hunters: A mid-tier, common shade known for hunting in packs, they have pointed feet like a insect, that they "skate" around on. They also have sharp scythes for hands, making them most known for slashing and hacking apart victims, their masks also have a singular long, pointed horn on their forehead. (Can be any element) * Echo Minors: Another mid-tier shade, known for locating pray, and calling other shades to it through cries, hence the name "echos". They have no head, and the mask is located all down their torso with a slight spike at the center top of their mask, just above the eyes, with ear like "horns" on their shoulder blades. The three claws on their feet are their weapon. (Can be any element, Air is the most common) * Digger Minors: A lesser tier, small, blind, and deaf mole like shade with no eyes, and drill nose at the end of their mask, wherever they are, they are typically serving a Digger major. (Can be any element, Earth / Rock is most common) * Digger Major: A large, blind, and deaf, rare boss tier shade, it has horns where ears should be, and a large drill at the end of it's mask, it's claws on it's feet are also drills. (Can only be the elements Earth / Rock, Crystal / Gemstone, Metal, and Volcanic.) Gallery IMG_13012015_053919.png|A pure shadow element, higher tier Shade, known as a "Skeeter" or a "Hunter" shade, that are known for hunting in groups. Art by User:CrazyAna755. IMG_22072015_000517.png|A pair of mole shaped earth elemental shades, the larger being known as "Digger Major" and is a rarer, unique "Boss" type like shade. The smaller, minion like one to the larger, is known as "Digger Minor". Art by User:CrazyAna755. Birdshade.png| A giant owl, air elemental shade, known as a "Echo" or "Echo Minor", it's the same tier as a Skeeter. Art by User:CrazyAna755. Trivia * Shades where mainly inspired by mainly Heartless from Kingdom Hearts, however it wasn't till after watching RWBY that they gained a appearance. * Goth Underwood is known for creating Shades, and controlling them in large masses, he also uses their venom to create poisons to paralyze targets healing abilities, which he sells to those in the blackmarket, as well as use it himself on his enemies. Source Links The Kingdom Hearts Wiki: Heartless The RWBY Wikia: Grimm Category:Fauna